Unpredictable

Jesus said, "Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves". How does that apply on the mission field? Allow me to give you a brief history lesson that was actually taking place 75 years ago as I write:

Late in the fall of 1944, Gen George Patton, wrote in his journal, "We could still lose the war." His commanding General, Dwight Eisenhower, had made a bet with his chief ally, the British commander Bernard Montgomery, "that the war (WWII) would be over by Christmas.” Patton had pointed out weaknesses in the allied forces defensive positions, but the allies were winning and Patton was regarded by many of his peers as a flamboyant, arrogant, throw-back to some medieval knightly order.

From December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945, “the greatest American battle of the war”, so called by British Prime Minister Churchill, the Battle of the Bulge took place. This was the last major offensive of Hitler’s German army in the war. The battle proved to be one of the costliest ever fought by the U.S. Army, which suffered over 100,000 casualties. The initial result was a huge German success resulting in completely cutting off the 101st Airborne Division in Bastogne. Eisenhower called his generals for an emergency council of war. Earlier Patton had been rebuffed when he had warned his superiors that a gambler like Hitler would likely try something desperate in December. Even before the generals met, Patton had preplanned a risky rescue operation. In a blizzard, he turned a large part of his army 90 degrees on a 100-mile trek for three days to save the collapsing American lines to the north at Bastogne, Belgium. The point is this: when deadly enemies prove unpredictable, it is sometimes wise to have an even more unpredictable leader on our side.

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